First Edition Cycling News for November 17, 2005

Edited by Hedwig Kröner

An interview with Levi Leipheimer

Leipheimer finished the Tour in sixth
Photo ©: Luc Claessen

After a stellar year that included an overall win in the Tour of Germany, third overall at the Dauphine Libere and sixth overall at the Tour de France, Gerolsteiner's American team leader Levi Leipheimer can quite easily say it's been his best season ever. Relaxing at his home in Santa Rosa, CA, Leipheimer is enjoying the fruits of a great year, and as Cyclingnews' Les Clarke finds out, at 32 years old he's not even thinking about finishing yet.

Speaking with Leipheimer at his home in California, his voice has the tone of a man with not too many worries at the moment, least of all the security of his contract at a time of year when an axe is being wielded by the management of various teams. This is due to the fact that Leipheimer finished the season ranked seventh on the inaugural Pro Tour's final rankings, with top ten overall performances in the Tour de France, Dauphine Libere, Tour of Germany and on home turf at the Tour de Georgia.

By his own admission it's been his best year ever, saying, "Yeah, I'd say it was my best season. The races I entered I got good results in, and although some were used as preparation for other races, I did well in all the races I was really going for." One of Leipheimer's goals was to perform well in the Dauphine Libere, and although it's known as a Tour de France warmup race for most of the major contenders, Leipheimer's form in this shorter stage race bode well for his performance at la Grande Boucle.

For the full interview click here

Southland director defends stage truncation

By John Stevenson

Tour of Southland race director Bruce Ross in a lighter moment at the 2004 event
Photo ©: Barry Harcourt

Bruce Ross, race director of the Tour of Southland, has defended his organisation's controversial decision to shorten last week's eighth stage of the New Zealand race. The stage was stopped with 48km to go at the top of Blackmount Hill because weather conditions meant it would be dangerous for the race to ride down off the mountains.

"When the race was stopped the descent would have been dangerous," Ross told Cyclingnews. "Also the race was behind schedule [for the planned traffic closure at the finish.]"

Riders were loaded into vehicles and driven to a point 24km from the finish where the race was restarted. A dispute arose because the restarted race preserved the time gap of three riders who had previously escaped from the peloton. On the top of Blackmount Hill, Anthony Chapman (Creation Signs), Gordon McCauley (Trek/Zookeepers Café), and Jaaron Poad (Trek/Zookeepers Café) had an advantage of four to five minutes on the peloton, a gap that had dropped from around seven minutes as the peloton had organised a concerted chase.

When the race was restarted with 24km to go, Chapman, McCauley and Paod were given a head start equal to their margin at the top of Blackmount. In protest, several teams staged a go-slow protest, including the Calder Stewart squad of race leader Jeremy Vennell and the Southland Times outfit of Cyclingnews diarist John Lieswyn.

Despite the protest, Ross doesn't believe there was any alternative. "People have been talking about a Duckworth Lewis rule, but how do you judge that? There was a bunch chasing three riders, but who says they would have caught them?"

But what should race organisers do in Ross' situation? Click here for the full story.

French federation wants greater antidoping measures

In a letter addressed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the French ministry for Sports and Youth, the French Cycling Federation (FFC) has suggested further proposals to improve the fight against doping in cycling. The letter signed by FFC president Jean Pitallier and federal doctor Armand Mégret was sent on Tuesday, putting forward proposals within regulatory medical observation as well as measures in the fight against doping as such.

For instance, the FFC suggested that the team doctors may put a rider to rest when observing biological anomalies suspected to having been induced by manipulation. Until now, the prohibition of a rider to carry on his profession only takes effect when a certain level of red blood cells is attained (50). In this case, the FFC would like to see a possibility of out-of-competition tests of the suspected rider to be increased, and all of the European laboratories to work with the same material in order to make the biological examinations effective.

Furthermore, and within the framework of anti-doping measures, the FFC is in favour of disciplinary actions "in case of biological anomaly proving, even indirectly, that prohibited substances or methods have been used to manipulate." It also asked for an additional urinary sample to be taken at anti-doping tests, which could be analysed later in time when progress is made on the detection of new doping methods, and an increased number of out-of-competition tests "extending to the start of important races."

The fight against doping will be one of the topics addressed at the meetings between FFC officials and the UCI in Aigle, Switzerland, taking place this week.

Ullrich's weight regulated by contract?

The ups and downs of Jan Ullrich's weight have long been a source of discussion by fans and a subject of worry for the German's T-Mobile team. Ullrich has this year once again sworn to watch his weight and to eat sensibly throughout the off-season. However, according to Hamburger Abendblatt, T-Mobile will not just rely on his promises. The German newspaper claims that Ullrich's contract has been amended to include a clause requiring him not to weigh more than 79 kilograms at the start of the season in March. If Ullrich (ideal weight: 72 kg) comes in overweight, he is reported to lose financial bonuses.

"Of course we try to get Jan at specific weight at specific times in the season," said T-Mobile's team manager Olaf Ludwig, who denied the contract clause.

The newspaper further prepared the following table, listing the dates of Ullrich's season start, his weight at that first race, and his subsequent placing in the Tour de France:

Year  First Race                  Weight TdF placement 

1997  March 22, Milan-San Remo    75 kg  1
1998  April 6, Basque Country     80 kg  2
1999  March 17, Volta a Portugal  80 kg  DNP
2000  March 10, Tirenno-Adriatico 79 kg  2
2001  April 16, Rund um Köln      77 kg  2 
2002  May 22, Bayern Tour         74 kg  DNP
2003  April 11, Sarthe            73 kg  2
2004  Feb. 29, Clasica Almeria    82 kg  4
2005  April 5, Sarthe             79 kg  3

Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer

Milram's Tour de France dilemma

Most teams would be happy at the luxury of having two top sprinters. Team Milram hasn't even contested its first race and already finds itself mired in the controversy of "who's number one." It was assumed that Italian star Alessandro Petacchi would ride the Gir d'Italia, leaving the Tour de France to German Erik Zabel. But the Giro route planners didn't consult with these plans, and after having seen the route, Petacchi said, "Maybe I will have to take another look at my program and focus on the Tour de France instead."

Zabel, who just won the Six Days race in Munich with Robert Bartko, said diplomatically, "I look forward to riding the Tour with Petacchi." However, team sponsor Nordmilch Konzern is looking to foreset all potential problems. "First we have to discuss it with our Board of Directors, who are responsible for such things," Nordmilch spokesman Harald Schomacker told Sport1.de. "We are having our team presentation on January 10 in the Bremen area. We will try by then to clear up the situation," he concluded.

Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer

SCAT announces main sponsor National Grid

Sports Carnivals Association of Tasmania (SCAT) President, Grant Atkins announced that National Grid will be the naming rights sponsor of the 2005-2006 Carnival Series. The announcement comes as a further boost for SCAT on the back of the recent decision to accept membership of three other carnivals, Rosebery, Hobart, and St Helens as an official part of the series.

"SCAT is confident that sponsors together with each individual carnival will benefit greatly from increased exposure and marketing activity, with the additions of Rosebery, Hobart and St Helens," Atkins said.

In addition to securing the support of long-term partner National Grid (formally Basslink) as the principle naming rights sponsor of the carnival series, several new sponsorship agreements were also announced, providing financial stability and strengthening the Tasmanian Carnival Series over the next three years, from 2005/06 to 2007/08. Separate three-year sponsorship agreements with B&E Limited, Healthcare Insurance, WHK Pinnacle and Fairbrother Pty Ltd. were inked, with all four major sponsors being Tasmanian owned companies.

Atkins announced that B&E Limited would take on the naming rights sponsorship of the cycling program, Healthcare Insurance the naming rights of the wood chopping program, WHK Pinnacle the naming rights of the athletics program and Fairbrother Pty Ltd as naming rights of the young achiever of the series award.

Furthermore, Atkins announced the State Government’s continuing support for series. "It is important to have the Tasmanian State Government behind the carnivals as their contribution combined with the corporate support we receive will ensure that we can continue to attract world class athletes and deliver another spectacular carnival series in partnership with our seven member carnivals," said Atkins at the launch, also attended by Hon Jim Cox, Minister for Sport and Recreation.

"With over 400 years of combined history, the Tasmanian Sports Carnivals are a way of life in Tasmania. Many athletes regularly come from around the world to compete against our local champions," he continued. This year, Australian super stars Shane Kelly and Ben Kersten have been signed to compete against cyclists from America, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Scotland, Isle of Man and New Zealand, who have already been contracted for the B&E Cycling Program.

As the series approaches, additional contracted riders have been announced: In 2005, the WHK Pinnacle Athletics Program will include the appearance of 17 year-old Hobart champion Ryan Foster, the current U17 Australian 1500m and 2km steeple chase champion. Tipped as a future Australian senior representative for Commonwealth and Olympic Games, Foster will target the 1500 metre events at this year's carnivals.

World Champion Axeman David Foster and his son Stephen will compete in this years Healthcare Insurance Wood Chopping Program along with the current Australian Champion of Champions Dale Beams of Exeter. They will be joined by champion New South Wales Axeman Dale Ryan and Tasmania’s Matthew Gurr who is returning from injury. The program this year will include a 375m Championship Event to be chopped in front of the main grand stand at Latrobe on Boxing Day.

More information can be found at: www.tascarnivals.com.

2005 NZ Criterium Champs

The 2005 Lion Foundation New Zealand Criterium Championships will be hosted by North Shore City at Takapuna Beach on Saturday, December 17. The racing programme will include all levels of competition from school-age to masters-level.

All relevant details will be included on entry forms due in bike shops throughout New Zealand next week. For more urgent enquiries, please contact peter@smartsport.co.nz or call 021 75 45 75.

Winton Cycling Centre fundraiser auction

The Winton Cycling Centre Management Group has announced its final fundraiser auction to benefit the Winton Community Cycling Centre, a planned 250m banked track at the Winton Recreation Ground in Bournemouth, Dorset, UK, with Liquigas-Bianchi memorabilia up for grabs. Inaugural ProTour leader Danilo Di Luca has donated a signed Santini UCI ProTour Leader's Jersey as well as a signed Santini Giro d'Italia Pink Leader's Jersey (with all the team logos). Magnus Bäckstedt has also provided a further team postcard for the auction. With the goal of raising £25,000 as a contribution to the track project, the local community is currently at the half way point. As well as the banked track for experienced riders, other facilities include a flat inner safety zone for community riding, a grass infield for British Cycling's Go Ride scheme, new spectator seating as well as enhanced disabled access facilities. For further information, please go to: www.wintoncyclingcentre.org.uk

San Francisco bike shop owner deceased

Clay Mankin, owner of the City Cycle bike shop in San Francisco, died on Sunday, November 13, while riding his bike on a 400-mile trip to Santa Barbara to celebrate his 50th birthday with friends. Mankin apparently suffered a heart attack as investigating police did not find traces of a collision with a car.

The 49 year-old was on the board of directors of the San Francisco Bike Coalition, working to improve bike access and bike commuting conditions for cyclists, as well as being involved with the Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program, which provides sports and recreation for people with disabilities, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

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